KIRKUS REVIEW

When party planning goes awry, will it come between best friends? Cuddly bear-cub pals Otis and Sydney love dressing in silly clothes, jumping on a trampoline and playing music together. Every year, each throws a birthday party for the other. This year, Otis plans a big surprise party and makes all the preparations, but on the big day the guests are very late and worried Otis suddenly realizes that he's indicated the wrong date. What to do? When Sydney arrives, Otis improvises. They play all the games Otis had planned for the party; Sydney only gets suspicious when he sees the size of his cake. Otis comes clean, and Sydney declares that this was his best birthday ever! Andreasen's digitally colored pen-and-ink drawings nearly jump off the page, maximizing the similarities between the two unabashedly adorable bears and frequently arranging themselves in paneled vignettes whose balance further reinforces the harmony between the two--just right for this simple story of friendship for the very young. (Picture book. 3-5)

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